Academy Investigates Alleged Sex Assault Of Female Midshipman

The U.S. Naval Academy is investigating allegations that a female midshipman was sexually assaulted last year by members of the academy's football team, a Pentagon spokesman says.

The woman alleges that three men from the team assaulted her at an off-campus house in April 2012. She says she was "ostracized" on the Annapolis campus after reporting the attack, according to Susan Burke, a lawyer for the woman.

Burke says Naval Academy Superintendent Michael Miller closed an investigation without charges last year even though some of the alleged attackers admitted their involvement.

That investigation was reopened and Navy criminal investigators have submitted a report with "additional corroborating evidence," according to The Associated Press.

"The entire [Naval Academy] community knows about this," Burke said in an interview with AP.

The names of the players were not made public and the Naval Academy declined further comment.

Burke said her client woke up with bruises after a night of heavy drinking. She "later learned from friends and social media that three football players — whom she considered friends — were claiming to have had sex with her while she was intoxicated and blacked out," according to the AP.